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Environment[edit]

The Bar Room includes a restaurant, a lounge and, as the name implies, a bar. The walls and ceiling of the Bar Room are covered with antique toys and sports memorabilia donated by famous patrons.[2] Perhaps the most famous feature of 21 is the line of painted cast iron lawn jockey statues which adorns the balcony above the entrance. In the 1930s, some of the affluent customers of the bar began to show their appreciation by presenting 21 with jockeys painted to represent the racing colors of the stables they owned. There are 33 jockeys on the exterior of the building, and 2 more inside the doors.[2][3]

History[edit]

The first version of the club opened in Greenwich Village in 1922, run by cousins Jack Kreindler and Charlie Berns. It was originally a small speakeasy known as the Red Head. In 1925 the location was moved to a basement on Washington Place and its name was changed to Frontón. The following year it moved uptown to 42 West 49th Street, changed its name to the Puncheon Club, and became much more exclusive.[4] In 1929, to make way for the construction of Rockefeller Center, the club moved to its current location and changed its name to "Jack and Charlie's 21".

At Christmas time the regulars received silk scarves decorated with a motif of various unique club insignia. Each scarf is numbered and has the Jockey logo and also features the famous railings associated with the building. Some of the most unusual and desirable were designed by Ray Strauss, founder of Symphony Scarves, in the 50s and 60s. A number of these can be seen in a 1989 book by Andrew Baseman, The Scarf. Siggie Nordstrom had a collection of several dozen of these she'd received through the years. 21 Club scarves have a large following among scarf collectors.

Every President since Franklin Delano Roosevelt except for George W. Bush has dined at 21 (although Bush's wife and daughters have), and the restaurant has been frequented by so many celebrities that many of them have favorite tables.[6] (George W. Bush did dine at 21 prior to becoming President, and in fact was dining at 21 when he was informed by a waiter that his father had been chosen as Ronald Reagan's running mate.

Reviews[edit]

Expansion plans[edit]

In 1995 it became part of Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. which in 2014 changed its name to Belmond Ltd. In November 2007, the company announced acquisition and plans to raze the Donnell Library branch directly north of the 21 Club on 53rd Street (Manhattan) and build a $220 million 11-story, 150-room hotel that would be connected to the 21 Club and would be the flagship for a new "21" brand of hotels. These plans were put on hold and shelved in March 2009; Orient-Express saying it "wanted to revisit the $59 million agreement because of the global financial crisis and a shortage of credit for construction and real estate development." [11] The library was sold to Starwood Capital Group in 2011 which razed the library and began construction of a 46-story complex to be the flagship of the new Baccarat Hotels and Resorts chain.[12] In March 2014 Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. introduced a new brand name, Belmond.

I Love Lucy: In the episode Vacation From Marriage, Lucy and Ethel pretend to have dates at 21 to make their husbands jealous. In the episode Mr. and Mrs. TV Show, Lucy tells Ricky she met TV producer Harvey Cromwell while having lunch at 21 with Carolyn Appleby.

In Live and Let Die: James Bond (Roger Moore) boards the train with Ms. Solitaire, and tells U.S. CIA agent Felix that he will meet him at 21 club.

In Beach Blanket Bingo (1965): Bullets (Paul Lynde) tells Earl Wilson (Earl Wilson) that the club they are entering is not "a fancy New York night club, the kind you are used to, like the 21 Club" (at 43 minutes into film).

In Oscar, Anthony (played by Vincent Spano) mentions having known Mr. Provolone's daughter at a "23 Club".

In "Archer, Season 2 Heart of Archness I, Mallory says she will reserve their usual booth at 21

In "Archer, Season 3 Episode 4, Archer misses his birthday dinner at 21

In his memoir "Making The Mummies Dance" then-director of the Metropolitan Museum, Thomas Hoving, mentions having dinner at 21 with trustee and banker Robert Lehman.

In the series finale of Breaking Bad, Gretchen Schwartz mentions that she wants to have dinner at the 21 Club to her husband, Elliott.

In Whit Stillman's Metropolitan, the character Tom Townsend asks his mother, "Is the 21 Club very expensive?" Townsend and another character are then shown leaving the club (it is unclear whether they dined there).

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